Every Fifteen Minutes

Dr Eric Parrish is head of the psychiatry unit of his hospital. He is a well-respected professional, a kind and clear-headed boss. When he is called from his unit to see an elderly patient with a terminal diagnosis who is being rehydrated, he meets her grandson Max, a seventeen year old with OCD and associated tapping rituals every fifteen minutes. Max is the sole carer of his grandmother and is distraught that she has stopped eating. His grandmother persuades Eric to take Max on as a private patient, hoping to prepare her grandson for her imminent death and support him through his loss. They meet at Eric’s home office and they build up a good relationship.

Eric is separated from his wife Caitlin, but they share the care of their seven-year-old daughter Hannah. Recently Caitlin has committed to a serious relationship and is planning to move in with her boyfriend and his daughter. This will change the access routine that Eric and Hannah have become used to. These changes are deeply upsetting to Eric and he is fighting for their relationship to continue, the stability of his access through the impending divorce means everything to him. He wants Hannah to know that both parents love her and she will be able to see them both as always.

Then Eric gets a phone call from Max. His Grandmother has died and he is alone with her, not knowing what to do and severely disturbed by her loss. Eric tries to calm him down but by the time he arrives at their house, Max had already left. Eric is really worried for Max and fears he may harm himself. As time passes by with still no news from Max, so Eric’s concern escalates

Meanwhile there is trouble at the hospital. Eric is accused of impropriety and a patient’s condition rapidly deteriorates. All at once Eric’s life crashes out of control. He is suspended, his wife is on the offensive and the police take Eric in for questioning when the body of a young woman is found early one morning in a nearby park. Whatever is going on? Eric’s life hangs by a thread. An unknown adversary is manipulating events and Max is running amok. Where will it all end?

This is a fast-moving psychological thriller with well-crafted and vibrant story telling. From the very beginning the chapters that recount these story threads are interspersed with chapters told by an anonymous contributor, a determined and treacherous sociopath bent on revenge. But an unknown enemy is the most dangerous of all. It will take all of Eric’s skill to work out what is going on and he will face many challenges along the way. The story is well supported by an eclectic host of characters, all believable and each with motives of their own. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and would like to thank Netgalley and Headline for sending me my copy in return for an honest review. 'Every Fifteen Minutes' is a good read, a clever thriller that kept me reading until the very last page. I never once guessed at the identity of the odious sociopath and thought all of the loose ends were tied up in a very satisfactory manner.

Oh my goodness, what a roller coaster of a ride this book took me on. And not just your bulk standard roller coaster! Oh no! This one had me twisting and turning all over the place and, just when I though I was on the final straight slowing down to stop, off we went again...
Eric is a rather well respected psychiatrist. As well as his private practice, he is also head of psychiatry at the local hospital. He seems all up together professionally but then we look at his personal life and that is in quite a mess. He has recently split up with his wife and has moved out of the marital home, At the start of the book, he and his ex-wife are mostly happily joint parenting their young daughter Hannah but this is a status that is destined not to remain.
The catalyst to Eric's downfall appears to be the young son of a patient brought in to the A&E department of his hospital. Eric is brought in to talk to the boy, Max and, at the request of his grandmother who is at death's door, begins to treat Max as one of his private patients.
He only sees him a couple of times before his grandmother dies and after this event, Max goes off the rails and this is the start to a catalogue of incidents, accidents, coincidences that throw Eric deeper and deeper in trouble with the hospital, his ex-wife, the police and even the feds. Will he manage to untangle it all and save himself and others before it all goes too far? If all this wasn't enough, Eric is also in trouble with his ex-wife and also trying to dodge a colleague's untrue allegations.
The only issue I have with this book, and it's only a small one that I can live with as it is rather plot related is exactly how Eric could be so stupid with some of the things he did. Really, he is supposed to be intelligent and also I would have thought as a psychiatrist, able to read people and situations better. But, as I said, the things he did were integral to the plot and I am not so churlish to let this ruin my overall reading experience. And anyway, to be honest, when are people every really 100% consistent, certainly none that I have met in real life so I guess we shouldn't expect it from characters in a book.
The story is mostly told from Eric's point of view but every so often we get a chapter written by an unnamed sociopath, the identity of whom had me guessing, second guessing and even third guessing before I eventually found out who they were and was totally gob-smacked. The story whips along at quite a pace not giving the reader much of a breather until the bit where it appears to be all worked out and then we get a little respite until the curve ball is thrown. Despite the escalation being very rapid, none of it comes across as being forced. Each subsequent incident follows neatly on from the previous, albeit on occasion, more than just a simple step up!
Characterisation was also very cleverly crafted. The clues to their true characters were there but they were very well hidden and not at all obvious leading to what I think has to be one of the best OMG moments I can remember.
All in all, a great psychological thriller, very well written. I can't believe I have never read this author before but I am definitely going to check out her back catalogue.

I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.